AIMING FOR THE MOON
by Sg1Trooper
Summary: CASSIE CAN'T BELIEVE THAT HERE TWO FAVORITE PEOPLE ARE BEING KEPT APART AND LETS THEM KNOW THE TRUTH THEY HAVE BEEN TRYING TO RUN FROM STARGATE SG1


I so hate parties.

But here I am smiling and making small talk to people I don't know and wishing I never have to talk to ever again. I told Sam I'd be here, even though I don't agree with her choice; it was hers to make but I would stand by her. She thanked me for the confidence, she said it very sarcastically. I could see that I had hurt her with my comment. She blurted out that if my mother was around she would understand. I nodded that comment hurting me more then she realized. But it had to be said, I had to let her know how I felt.

I understand more than she realizes. I know that she was reaching out to have a normal life and she thought settling down with the super cop was normal.

I feel overwhelmed with all the happy people here. I try to look beyond their eyes to see what they really feel. Do they think she's making the right decision or is it just me being stubborn because I didn't get what I wanted, that she could have done so much better?

In my opinion she was marrying the wrong guy.

He is so wrong for her. She deserves to be loved, cherished and to be happy. I know she's not happy. That she's just settling. Settling because she can't have what she truly wants.

It's hard standing on the sidelines and watching her pretend that she cares for him. He's over bearing, thinks he's funny and possessive. He wants her all to himself and gets angry with her when she tries to include her SGC family.

God I need a drink, a breath of fresh air; this party is starting to close in on me and I need to get away.

I walk though the banquet room to the veranda. The place Sam picked out for the engagement party is nice but small; she said she had invited only 25 people but it looked like over 50 were in the cramp room. I walked out and took a breath of fresh air. There was a garden and I looked over my shoulder, certain no one would miss me.

I had been making faces all night so maybe they'd just think I left.

I made my way through the garden and found a bench next to a fountain. It was so serene and I sat down listening to the water flow and looking up to the night sky to see a crescent moon.

I could faintly hear the music start in the banquet room and the dim noise of voices.

I close my eyes and remember the past.

I was given a second chance. I was given two new mothers and three new fathers. Each of them being the support system I needed to adjust to my new life.

My mother, Janet Fraiser was my rock. She was there to hold me when the nightmares came and to raise me to be the person I am today. Her wisdom and her belief was what I loved the most of her. She was one of a kind a spitfire could best describe her. She opened her heart and loved me no matter what. I was her daughter regardless that she did not give birth to me.

Sam, my second mother, the one who wouldn't leave me behind when I was thought to have a bomb inside of me. The one who saved me from the destruction of my first home and family my best friend and the one that saved me again when I lost my second mother.

Daniel, the man I secretly wished would have married my mother. I remember how my mother would light up when he was near and how befuddled he'd get when he would speak to her. Daniel had been the one to tell me that my mother was gone. He had cried and confessed to me that he should have told her of what was in his heart but took it for granted she would always be there to patch him up and make him whole again. Daniel had always been there for me when I needed help at school but now he was my rock, he was the one that made sure I was okay.

Teal'c, my fellow alien, he taught me discipline and respect. I cherished the talks we had when the others were busy. I remember feeling out of place on earth and his reassurance that it would be all right, that he too had these feelings but was not sorry for the choice he had made. That the Tauri were honorable people and that they loved me as one of their own.

Jack, my surrogate father the man who gave me the first of many pets to the dismay of my mother. The man who always was there for me, that I knew I could depend on for anything. He had taught me how to fish, ice skate and to learn to love the Simpson's as much as he did. I had overheard Sam and my mother talking about his son one night, it had only been weeks since I had come to earth but I remember that vividly. I snuck out of my room rode the bike he had just bought me and went to his house knocking at his door and announcing to him that if he wanted I would be his new daughter since I knew the pain it was to lose a love one. I don't know if it was what I said or that I was there in the middle of the night that made him embrace me and thank me for my gesture but I knew then that we had a special bond one that could not be broken. We would watch out for one another always making sure that either one were always okay.

Those days were long ago when things were simpler; I had to face the reality that my family would never be the same if Sam married Pete.

I was lost in thought when I felt a hand on my shoulder and a voice I recognized.

"Penny for your thought kiddo?"

I looked up and smiled at Jack. He looked handsome in his dress blues and with his new star on his shoulders it just completed the picture.

"Just a penny I thought I'd at least get a twenty".

He chuckled and sat next to me. I leaned into me as he put his arm around me.

"Whatcha doing out here alone in the dark. I was thinking I had to come and save your honor or something with the way those guys have been following you with their eyes all night."

"I'm not too crazy about law enforcement guys and the airmen stay at least 10 feet away from me thanks to you, Daniel and Teal'c. So it must be the waiters that have the roving eye."

He laughed and I giggled with him.

I stopped and really looked at him.

He looked ill at ease, as if he wanted to be somewhere else. It must have taken a lot for him to be here. He tried to make me laugh to get my attention but it didn't work. I stared at him and he turned away. Laughter and acting dumb were his two best weapons. I had seen the pain behind his eyes and it made me angry. This should not be happening to him. He should be in there celebrating instead of standing by and watching the woman he cared for settle for some one else.

I blurted out, "how can you let this happen Jack?"

He turned towards me and was surprised that I had said what I had said. Everyone else had been happy for Sam and here I was the only one waving her hands yelling what's wrong with this picture.

He stood up and stood by the fountain. I could see his shoulders sag for a brief second. He took a breath and answered how could he let what happen.

Playing dumb. Well not this time Jack.

"Let her marry the wrong guy."

I waited to hear his response. The seconds ticked away and he still stood still with his back towards me.

"She loves him Cassie, she deserves happiness and if this guy does it for her then you should be happy. Your Mother would be."

It shocked me that he had used my mother as a weapon. I had wounded him and he was going into his defensive mode.

"My mother would have had a lot to say about this. She would have made Sam see reason. That she's settling for something other then what she really wants."

Jack shook his head, "She'd never settle Cassie, and she wanted a life outside of the mountain. She wanted to be loved and treated like a woman, to be cherished for her not what she could do. She wants a family Cass."

I could see that I had opened wounds that he had hidden for sometime but I decided to put the cards on the table and ask the questions no one else dared to.

"Jack, she has a family, one that loves her very much and she thinks she's doing the right thing because none of you are willing to tell her its not what she wants. Yes I understand about her wanting a life but at what price. Can't you see she's settling for second best because what she truly wants she cant have or doesn't know she could get."

Tears started to stream down my face.

I was hurting the man I had considered my father but deep down I knew it had to be said. I used the cuff of my dress to wipe at my tears and got up to stand next to him.

I had over stepped my bounds and wanted to apologize. I stood next to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. He didn't turn I then grabbed his hand and it was cold. I intertwined our fingers and squeezed it. He squeezed back. I swallowed the tears that were threatening to fall and started to wipe the last of my tears. He stopped me and wiped them for me. I looked up at him and I could see the sorrow on his face. He looked so worn and tired like he had fought a war that he had lost.

"Cass, I'm sorry about what I said about your mom, that was way out of line, it was a cheap shot. I don't know why I said that and now you're crying and aww c'mere."

He took me in his arms and hugged me but I think he was doing it for his own comfort. I held him and whispered that I was the one that was sorry that I had said some cruel things. I was stubborn and that was my excuse for not accepting that Sam was marrying someone else other than him.

He pulled away and sat us on the bench. He pulled out a handkerchief and started to wipe my face and he told me to blow my nose. I waited to see what he would say.

"Cassie, what you want is not going to happen especially not now. She's moved on and she's happy right? You should support her like we do. Sam is a smart woman and if she didn't want to do this then she would not have said yes."

I shook my head and blurted out, "haven't you've been listening, God how did they make you a General and her a Colonel. She's settling. I overheard her tell my mother one night after the whole Osiris thing that she like the way Pete treated her and that she actually had a life now but something was missing there was no spark. My mother said she was settling, that was what she had felt when she had married. She had settled and it ended in a divorce. My mother told her that she was a special woman and that she should never settle that if she wanted the moon then aim for it. If she wanted a certain Colonel then do something before she did something she would regret for the rest of her life."

I took his face into my hands and said, "Sam said she would if she knew the certain Colonel felt the same way."

The look or surprise and shock passed through his face. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. I looked at him and nodded.

"You two have been fighting this for over 8 years, and now you've gone and given up. Well if you're too scared to tell the woman I know deep in my heart that you love and let her make the biggest mistake of her life then you two don't deserve each other."

Jack smiled and whispered, "has it been that obvious that I've been in love with her since the moment we met. That my heart skips a beat each time she smiles. That I long to hold her in my arms and never let her go. That my breath stops each time we went through that gate and wonder if I would make the right decision to bring her back alive? That I died a little that day your mom passed when she came to me and broke down and I actually got to see the vulnerable side of the woman I care for more than my own life. That I alone pushed away the best thing in my life so that she would have a normal life and now she is going to marry a man I don't think deserves to be in the same room with, let alone give her the children I long to give her."

We both heard the gasp behind us and Jack closed his eyes.

"She's behind me isn't she?"

I leaned to the side and sure enough Sam was there with her mouth open and tears streaming down her face.

I nodded yes and he let out a streak of curses.

I whispered, "I knew as did everyone else but were afraid to say anything. You've done the hard part the next part is simple."

I walked around him and went up to Sam, "He's vulnerable Sam if you don't feel the same then walk away now. But if you do love him, which I know, you do then go to him. Pete will understand; this is bigger than both of you and if you settle for less it always leaves you wanting more."

"When did you grow up to be such a wise woman? You sound so much like your mother right now. You don't know how much I miss talking to her; you're right she would have set me straight. I'm not going to settle I'm going to aim for the moon. Thank you Cassie for opening my eyes to what I was blind to all these years."

She kissed me on the cheek and I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at Jack. He kissed me to and whispered his thanks.

I said I was going back to the party and if they'd decide to leave I'd make the excuses and apologies. They were still staring at each other. Nothing else existed only them.

I walked back to the party with a smile and a spring in my step. I looked up to the star filled sky and saw one twinkle bright.

"Thanks mom I think they're gonna be alright. I miss you and I love you."

I turned to see Sam in Jack's arm; as they were meant to be.


End file.
